The mosquito-borne viral disease is responsible for an estimated 390 million cases globally
LifeArc has announced that it will be funding three new projects to help improve the understanding of dengue fever and prevent the global spread of the disease.
As well as the investment, the projects will receive support and advice to overcome key translational challenges in accelerating scientific discoveries towards patient impact.
The announcement follows recent warnings from the World Health Organization in December 2023 surrounding the threat dengue poses to global health.
Additionally, the organisation has set a target of eliminating all global deaths from the disease by 2030.
Responsible for an estimated 390 million cases globally, dengue fever is an infection that spreads from mosquitoes to people and is more common in tropical and subtropical climates.
Common symptoms of the viral infection include a high fever, headache, body aches, nausea and rash.
LifeArc has awarded the India Institute of Technology Roorkee over £170,000 to explore new treatment approaches to the dengue virus by identifying novel antibodies to improve drug delivery to infected cells, while the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute in Australia has received more than £164,000 to test patient samples and identify new biomarkers to help predict the severity of disease outcomes for patients.
The third project to receive a grant from LifeArc, based at Tranalab Pvt, in India, aims to expand the start-ups proprietary targeted drug delivery technology platform to create therapeutic options against dengue.
The technology has already shown efficacy in rare diseases and could increase the efficacy of antivirals while decreasing side effects.
Dr Mike Strange, head of global health at LifeArc, commented: “We’re proud to support these projects, which… could contribute towards providing new treatments and improving our understanding of dengue.
“Without further investment in this type of research, dengue and other mosquito-borne viruses will continue to affect more people around the world, including in Europe, where cases are increasing due to climate change.”
